I LOVE BIRDS!

 There’s no getting around it, I love a lot of LIVING BEINGS! 
BIRDS are some of my favorites,
besides a few other B-eings, like
BUTTERFLIES & BEES. 

These galleries are full of my own images where I catch little snippets of these glorious winged ones in action. A few photos are from other members of our family. I have some wonderfully creative members of my family. Most of the BIRDS are inhabitants or visitors in our GardenSong Projects (see GARDENSONGS on the menu). Sometimes they are so cute you want to hug them, sometimes quarrelsome, sometimes sneaky, sometimes BOLD and friendly and always BEAUTIFUL! The behaviors, colors and textures of our feathered friends always puts me into a state of AWE and APPRECIATION for whoever thought up and set in motion these amazing  genetic varieties.

With some thought & research, I made decisions of how
to set up our GardenSong Birdfeeders. 
I am always learning new ways…

Over the years I have added to and refined the kinds of feeders and the food I place in them. Then I watch to see just how satisfied the BIRDS are and how happy I am, considering my goal is to nurture and nourish the BIRDS, attempting not to make them too dependent on my efforts, and be able to witness and photograph them. Most of the time, I am shooting from inside, through the glass of 1 or 2 doors, depending on how cold it is. I have set up the feeders so that I can walk quietly to any door and some windows inside my home and see them. If I open the door, a rush of flutters and wings and they are gone! So I put up with a little lower quality of color and more fun!

New Bird Spotted!

The last few days, mid-February 2016, I have seen and photographed more kinds of BIRDS than ever in my life! The thrill of seeing something I have never seen before is so AWE inducing! A few days ago I saw a new one and identified it as an Eastern Towhee! and was I ever thrilled! I am learning to identify them now, thanks to Jack, who has a love of birds, too, and has traveled all around this planet and photographed many kinds of birds over the years. Identifying them adds another level of enjoyment and satisfaction to the whole creative experience.

My first sighting of a Rufous Sided Towhee, or Eastern Towhee in the Sparrow family! Apologies for the low quality of the photos, the lighting conditions and distance were a challenge. He was there and gone so fast, without images, I wouldn’t have known what he was. Very exciting to see something new for the first time!

When I first saw him he was on the ground, under a big hedgerow of Lagustrum, aka Privet, that provides sanctuary for a variety of wildlife. He was concentrating on finding bugs. He would hop with both feet onto a pile of leave crumbles and adeptly pull it backwards. As soon as the ground underneath was revealed his beak would pop down to catch whatever he uncovered! I was so excited seeing a new kind of bird in action I put on the video, which mostly doesn’t capture the best photos, just enough to prove he was there. Then he flew up into the branches above and then off he flew, with me calling, “No no, don’t leave me yet…” and he was gone and I was zinging with that feeling of seeing something new and wonderful!

This is why I watch…

This is why I do whatever it takes to entice them into our GardenSong…

This is why I photograph…

This is why I want to share them with YOU!

The other morning, I had stayed up all night, making astonishing progress on several of my websites (see Omni-D Projects under MORE on the menu). The energy was there and I rode the wave. The Sun was rising and I could hear the soft twitter of BIRDS outside. The day before I had hung out the new set of feeders and food, including some sock bags full of tiny tiny black Thistle Seeds for the little CLINGERS, some seed specifically for the TINY SONGBIRDS, some Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for the ground HOPPERS, and some Suet Blocks for the PECKERS and POKERS.

I was tired and ready to head for bed and as I walked by my back door of my studio, I saw the most amazing sight. There were so many BIRDS, some I had rarely seen in the previous years. So I quietly grabbed my camera and began to watch and snap photos. I moved from door to door and a few windows, catching the BIRDS in action. 3 hours later, with an SD Card FULL of images, in a state of happy delirium I headed for bed. As I closed my eyes, little birds were there, perching, fluffing, cocking their heads in the cutest ways as I drifted off to dreamland. What a wonderful creative life I live!

Keeping Flower Beds & Yards Natural

One thing I have learned since we moved to Tennessee is NOT to clean up my flowers in the Fall. Even though it causes my Gardens to look a bit messy, leaving the spent Flowers, Pods and Seeds for the BIRDS and little Critter’s food supply in the Winter is a SUSTAINABLE and RESPONSIBLE thing to do. I like the feeling when I see a little bird picking the seeds out of the dried flowers. There are many more things to consider when one is setting up a WILD LIFE HABITAT, whether it is for the BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES, BEE or the many other little life forms that inhabit the local habitat. Check out ECOSMART on the menu for more. So enjoy my photostories…

VISIT MY “I LOVE BIRDS” GALLERIES

Feed the Birds

Blue Jays

All my photos are copyrighted and can be shared on social media, blogs or other non-profit sites as long as you link them back to here and give me some acknowledgement. I appreciate that. See my Honest Usage Terms  for more options. Every photo is available as a fine art print in several sizes. Until our eStore is fully set up and functioning please contact me  for details and how to purchase.